A Social Anxiety Script

This is an original script for clients with social anxiety — the persistent fear that they will be judged, embarrassed or humiliated in social situations. It targets three maintaining factors from cognitive models: self-focused attention, a distorted observer image and avoidance of disconfirming evidence [1]. It is designed for use alongside CBT, not as a replacement.

About this script

• Purpose: reduce self-focused attention and practice social ease in imagination
• Length: about twelve minutes at a warm, steady pace
• Audience: therapists and hypnotherapists working with socially anxious clients
• Structure: settling, psychoeducation, attention-shift exercise, observer-perspective correction, social rehearsal, re-alerting
• Best used: as part of a CBT-informed treatment plan with real-world behavioral experiments between sessions

Before you read

• CBT is first-line. NICE guidelines recommend individual cognitive therapy based on the Clark and Wells model as the first-line psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder [4]. This script supplements that approach.
• Understand the model. In social anxiety, the person turns attention inward, constructs a distorted image of how they appear to others and uses safety behaviors (avoiding eye contact, rehearsing what to say, leaving early) that prevent them from learning the feared outcome does not occur [1].
• Agreed social scenario. Before the session, agree on a specific, moderately challenging social situation for the rehearsal section — a conversation at a party, a work meeting, a meal with acquaintances. Avoid the most feared scenario in early sessions.

The script

Settling

Find a comfortable position and let your eyes close… [pause]

Breathe slowly… in through your nose… out through your mouth… each breath a little slower… [pause]

There are no other people here right now… no one watching, no one evaluating… just you and your breath… [pause]

Psychoeducation moment

When you are in a social situation and anxiety arrives, something shifts inside… your attention turns inward… you start monitoring yourself — your voice, your face, your hands, whether you are saying the right thing… [pause]

And when your attention is on you, two things happen… you lose track of what is actually going on around you… and you build a picture of yourself in your mind that is almost always worse than how you actually appear… [pause]

The anxiety is not telling you the truth about how others see you… it is showing you a distorted image that it built while it was busy looking at you instead of at them… [pause]

Attention-shift exercise

Now I would like you to practice something… right here, where it is safe… [pause]

Turn your attention outward… to the sounds in the room… the temperature of the air on your skin… the surface beneath you… [pause]

Notice five things you can hear… and one by one, let each one register… without judging it, without deciding if it matters… just noticing it exists outside of you… [pause]

Now notice three things you can feel… the texture of the chair, the weight of your hands, the air on your face… [pause]

This is external attention… your mind is pointed out instead of in… and when you are in a social situation, this is the direction that gives you accurate information about what is actually happening… [pause]

Observer-perspective correction

Now imagine that you are at the social event we discussed… you are arriving… and the familiar anxiety is there… [pause]

You notice your attention turning inward… to your face, your posture, your words… and the distorted image starts to form — you looking awkward, wrong, out of place… [pause]

Now pause that image… and ask yourself: is this what a camera would see?… or is this what anxiety draws?… [pause]

Now replace that image with what a neutral observer would actually see… someone standing or sitting, looking normal, behaving normally, perhaps a little quiet but not noticeably anxious… because that is almost always what other people actually see… [pause]

Social rehearsal

Now let the scene continue… you are talking to someone… and you make a choice… you point your attention at them, not at yourself… [pause]

You notice the color of their eyes… the expression on their face… what they are saying, not how you look while they say it… [pause]

You respond… and it does not need to be perfect or witty… it just needs to be present… a response from someone who is listening, not someone who is performing… [pause]

And notice what happens when the attention stays external… the anxiety is still there, perhaps, but it has less material to work with… it cannot build the distorted image if you are looking at someone else instead of at yourself… [pause]

The conversation continues… and it is manageable… ordinary… and you are in it, not watching yourself from above… [longer pause]

Re-alerting

I will count from one to five.

One… returning. Two… the room around you. Three… energy in your body. Four… a full breath. Five… eyes open, grounded, present. [pause]

Usage notes

Evidence context

The Clark and Wells model identifies self-focused attention, distorted self-imagery and safety behaviors as the key maintaining factors in social anxiety [1]. CBT based on this model has strong evidence and is recommended by NICE as the first-line treatment [4]. A review of attentional processes confirmed that self-focused attention in social situations is both a consequence and a cause of social anxiety [3]. A review of meta-analyses found strong support for CBT across anxiety disorders, with social anxiety disorder particularly well studied [2].

The attention-shift in practice

The exercise in the script introduces the client to external focusing. Between sessions, assign real-world practice: during a low-stakes social interaction, deliberately shift attention to the other person — their words, their expression, the environment — and notice what happens to the anxiety. This is the behavioral experiment that CBT for social anxiety uses to disconfirm the feared belief.

Safety behaviors

This script does not address safety behaviors directly (rehearsing what to say, avoiding eye contact, keeping near the exit). In CBT for social anxiety, dropping safety behaviors is a key step. Discuss this in session and add specific suggestions about dropping one safety behavior at a time in later scripts.

Scope

This script is for social anxiety — fear of negative evaluation in social situations. It is not for:

• Avoidant personality disorder (which is broader and more pervasive)
• Autism-related social difficulties (which involve different mechanisms)
• Performance anxiety limited to public speaking (see the public speaking anxiety script)
• Selective mutism

When to refer. If social anxiety is severe enough to prevent the client from working, attending school, or maintaining relationships, refer for CBT-based treatment. If the client also has depression, substance misuse, or is avoiding leaving the house entirely, a comprehensive psychological assessment is needed.

Related entries

For public speaking specifically, see Public Speaking Anxiety Script. For general worry, see Letting Go of Worry Script. For building confidence, see Confidence Building Script.